Outside defense lawyer: Judge made right call in Assumption case

Yahoo

12-04-2025

WORCESTER — The judge who dismissed kidnapping and conspiracy charges against five former Assumption University students April 8 made the correct ruling, a longtime Boston defense lawyer who has followed the case believes.
'The judge absolutely made the right decision,' William A. Korman, of the Boston firm Rudolph Friedmann LLP, told the Telegram & Gazette.
Korman, who offered commentary on the case recently for the Law & Crime Network, opined that police, while correct to pursue a case, did not issue appropriate charges.
Assumption Police charged five students — all of whom, the university confirmed, are no longer enrolled — with felony kidnapping and conspiracy charges after an Oct. 1 incident at Alumni Hall.
Video entered into court records shows dozens of students confronting and chasing a 22-year-old man out of the building, where he is hit with his car door upon leaving.
Police say the students lured the man to campus and falsely labeled him a sexual predator in order to confront him on video, part of a growing online trend based on the decades-old NBC show, 'To Catch a Predator.'
They alleged the man was restrained and had to 'break free' — which they argued constituted kidnapping — but defense lawyers argued video of the event contradicted that claim.
Central District Court Judge Michael Allard-Madaus, after considering the video, dismissed the kidnapping and conspiracy charges for all five former students.
Allard-Madaus, as is not uncommon in district court, did not offer a written opinion explaining his ruling.
Korman said he believed defense lawyers, who argued their motions to dismiss March 28, did a good job of arguing their clients didn't keep the man from leaving and didn't have a plan that would meet the definition of a conspiracy to kidnap.
Korman said he didn't see any evidence the students had all agreed on what to do, other than lure the man to campus and confront him, which he opined is not a crime by itself.
Korman said while there may have been charges for police to file — a simple assault charge might be one option, he said — the kidnapping and conspiracy charges were a stretch.
'I think this is a perfect example of police officers needing to be very careful about the language they use in police reports and applications for (charges),' he said, adding that language used to describe events should be 'more direct and clear, not a charitable interpretation of events.'
Korman said while he believes police missed the mark on specific charges, he does see why charges were necessary.
''I think the important takeaway is that this could have gone in so many directions, each of which is tragic,' he said.
Korman noted the alleged victim could have been armed and inflicted violence out of fear, or could have been badly injured had a mob mentality set in. He could have slipped and injured himself running out of the building, he said, or struck someone when hurrying to leave in his car.
'There's a thousand ways this could have been worse,' he said, calling what ultimately happened the best outcome one could have hoped for.
Korman said the judge's ruling is one prosecutors could appeal, or that police could try and bring charges again.
Neither prosecutors nor Assumption University has offered comment on next possible steps.
Prosecutors have said their professional rules of conduct bar comment, since two of the former students are still facing charges.
One of the students, Kelsy Brainard, faces a charge of misleading police, while a second, Kevin Carroll, faces a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Police allege Brainard initially gave a false story about what happened, while Carroll, they allege, admitted to shutting the man's car door on him as he left.
Brainard and Carroll are both due back in court May 9 for a status hearing.
Reached via text, the 22-year old, a member of the Army from North Carolina, referred comment to his lawyer, Richard Rafferty, who did not return requests for comment.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Lawyer says right call made in Assumption 'Predator' case